Andy Serkis: 'The Film Industry Should Adopt VR'

Actor-director Andy Serkis believes cinema is losing its charm with the increasing popularity of streaming services. With the influx of technology and its failure of incorporation in cinema, the future of movies lies at stake.

No discussion about motion capture in movies can be complete without mentioning Andy Serkis. The 54-year-old actor, who has pioneered motion capture in Hollywood, with characters like King Kong, Caesar in Planet of the Apes, Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and Supreme Leader Snoke in Star Wars, believes people mostly come to cinema halls to watch “tent-pole blockbusters”.

In an interview with Independent about how technology will change the future of cinema, Andy said, “We’re entering into a different realm now because entertainment will no longer just be cinemas as we know it. Cinema is slipping away, sadly, apart from tent-pole blockbusters. The streamers are taking over.”

Virtual Reality to take the hospital pains away?. More and more hospitals are experimenting with VR headsets displaying peaceful settings to calm patients, and lessen their reliance on painkillers and other drugs.

Serkis believes that in order to revolutionise the way filmmakers tell the story, the film industry needs to adopt two technological advances: virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). He further adds that motion capture will also play a big part in building the future of movies.

“There’s just no question. Over the next ten years, we will see actors playing VR roles. Now that Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu has made this VR piece, you’re going to see many, many more 360 degree stories that use VR capture.”

Andy further implied, “Everyone has thought of it as ‘How do we bring the film experience to VR?’ What I actually think we need to do is ask ‘How do we bring theatre to VR? VR requires a much more visceral performance. You create these avatar characters, but instead of a film narrative, it’s a play script that is being brought to life.”

Bringing VR to everyone does not seem ideal at the moment as headsets are still expensive. While the technology may be key to cinema’s future, there are still some other dated opinions with regards to modern technology that need addressing.